A Magical Waltz
by Kat Lee formerly Pirate Turner
Summary: Jedda awakes to find her bed empty and ends up being reminded of just one of many reasons why her husband is called Mandrake The Magnificent. Fluff.


Title: "A Magical Waltz"  
Author: Pirate Turner  
Dedicated To: My beloved Pirate Sparrow  
Rating: R  
Summary: Jedda awakes to find her bed empty and ends up being reminded of just one of many reasons why her husband is called Mandrake The Magnificent. Fluff.  
Disclaimer: Jedda, Mandrake, and the Defenders of the Earth are & TM their respective owners, not the author. The author makes absolutely no monetary profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.

She stretched in the wee hours of the early morning and reached out for him. Her hand groped blindly to find the sheets and blanket still warm but her beloved nowhere within her reach. Her eyes flew open, panic flashing in them and fear creasing her brow. Could their wedded bliss have been but a dream? No, she reminded herself. That was impossible. He had been here. His scent still lingered in their bedroom, and the bed was still warm with his heat. They had made love for her body still tingled from his delightful, sensual touches like the whispered strand of music that continued to radiate through a harp's strings after one of the finest harpists had played it. She looked at her wedding ring and smiled at the sight of its golden sparkle in the flickering candlelight.

It was no dream, Jedda knew. They were happily married, and she had never known more joy than that which Mandrake brought to her. Yet where was her love? she wondered. Why had he left their bed? A breeze from the fading night rustled the curtains, and she sat up as she realized that the door to the balcony was open. "Mandrake?" she called but no answer came. She had found him several times out on the balcony, worrying over how they were ever going to convince her father to welcome them back into their family, and she feared that he was once more berating himself for causing the painful rift between her father and herself.

She stood and slipped on a sheer robe over her naked body. She continued to call to her beloved husband even as she stepped through the open door. A mist floated in the air, but her trained eyes saw through it well enough that she could tell Mandrake was nowhere on the balcony. "Mandrake?" she called again. Where could he be?

She turned to go back inside but paused as a rustling sound caught her ears. She turned back around just as two doves flew out of the mist. They swept over her head, dropping an unusual boutique of branches and roses. Jedda reached a hand up and gingerly felt of the makeshift crown that rested on her head. She was about to lift it off when a gloved hand whose caress she was blessed to finally know reached out to her from the darkness.

She smiled, her eyes sparkling as she realized that her husband had been waiting for her to join him and obviously had quite the surprise up his sleeve. Mandrake had always been full of surprises that delighted her, and her grin of anticipation grew as she slipped her hand into his, eager to discover his latest. She let him lead her to stand on the balcony's railing, and her breath caught in her throat as his magnificent form appeared before her, seemingly floating on the mist. His eyes sparkled, stealing even more of her breath away, and when he smiled at her, her whole body felt as though it was melting. They had been married for a week now, and yet every day and night with him was just as magical as their wedding night had been.

"May I have this dance?" His words floated on the cool air to her, and though she'd not thought it possible, her grin grew even bigger. She nodded, but when he took a step back to lead her out onto the air, she hesitated. He smiled again, reassuring her with his grin that he would never let any harm befall her again as long as he could stop it, and their eyes met.

She trusted him. She always had. This was just a new level of trust he was asking for, and, in her heart and soul, she knew she was glad, and even eager, to give it to him. She stepped out onto the air tentatively and was surprised to find that they were walking on floating rose petals. The smile he bestowed upon her melted her to her very core, and she hesitated no longer as he swept her close to his body. They danced together, gazing into each other's eyes, upon the very air as Jedda marvelled over how she had been blessed with a gentleman as magnificently magical, romantic, and gallant as Mandrake.

He pulled her closer still until she could feel his heartbeat under the palm of her hand where it rested upon his chest. She never looked down but continued to gaze into the dark, sexy pools of his eyes. She had never felt more loved than he made her feel, and this dance was something purely out of her dreams yet he had made it real. They danced together in a slow, sensual waltz across the air, hidden by his magic from any passer-bys that may happen across the cobbled street far below.

She had no sense of time, and nothing else mattered in this moment save the two of them and their love. He had completely blown her away and continued to do so with each carefully seductive caress. At last, as the last bits of night began to fade away and the morning sun shone its golden rays upon their faces, Mandrake smoothed Jedda's hair away from her face. "I love you," he breathed, his eyes never straying from hers just as hers had not moved from his since they had began to dance. He kissed her forehead, her eyelids as she submitted to his silent request to close her eyes briefly so that he may do so, and then her nose before gently and reverently pressing his lips upon her mouth.

"And I love you, my darling, beloved Mandrake," she whispered in response, her whole face aglow, "and you truly are magnificent, my love." She kissed him long and deep as the morning sun bathed the couple in its golden glow.

**The End**


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